Conrad Tribble, who has spent much of his career as a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department in countries such as Chile and Germany, says his assignment in Baghdad involves working with town councils and business owners. Here, he takes part in a feast.

Hawthorne native Conrad Tribble is on the front line in the war on terrorism in Baghdad, but as a provincial reconstruction team leader, he’s not battling enemy forces.

Since March, the U.S. State Department foreign service officer has been working with fledgling town councils, business owners and – once – hunting wild boar with a cadre of military officers and Iraqi farmers who used to hide weapons for extremist militias.

Tribble is part of an American effort to develop the fractured country from the bottom up by encouraging local representative government, quelling feuds between rival sects, and supporting infrastructure improvements and business development.

He is on one of 28 military teams led by civilian government reconstruction specialists in Iraq, according to the State Department’s Web site.

Baghdad is a hot, dusty and overwhelmingly beige city that often leaves Tribble arriving at meetings soaked in sweat from 30 pounds of military gear he has to wear to travel.

“Picture me arriving at a government official’s office with the sweat pouring down my face and my shirt simply soaked through – that’s the pretty standard look for an American diplomat here!” Tribble wrote in his blog.

The hardest part of the assignment is not being able to bring his family because of the security concerns, he said. He has been able to visit his wife and four children at their home in Virginia once this year.

Tribble, 44, has spent much of his career advancing U.S. policy in foreign countries since joining the foreign service in 1987. He has worked in Chile, Germany, the Baltic states and, most recently, in Haiti during the violent revolt surrounding the 2004 removal of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office.

But he said his year in Iraq has been his most challenging assignment because of the country’s radical transformation. Baghdad citizens are being introduced to democratic government for the first time and are being asked to voice their opinions – a novelty for citizens used to a dictatorship.

“What we’re doing is important to the Iraqis here. One of my messages to them is that the U.S. is not going to be here forever, and it’s important for Iraqis to develop their institutions,” Tribble said in a recent phone interview. “We are moving into a consultant role. It’s their city, their planning process, their vision for what the city should look like, their money that’s going to be spent.”

Tribble has a variety of duties in the three districts in the southeastern section of Baghdad that he serves – participating in a local business conference, visiting local schools, addressing water and energy shortages, constructing sewage systems, and training local government workers how to maximize a budget.

The most enjoyable meetings are those with local leaders and citizens, where they discuss their lives and the differences between Iraqis and Americans, he said.

Earlier this summer, he dined on grilled lamb with tribal sheiks – joined by members of the military brigade he is embedded in. They ate with their hands from large plates of rice, meat and vegetables.

“It’s efficient, if a little messy, but I found the hands-on aspect of the process added to the taste,” Tribble said. “What’s important is that these are tribal leaders with differing agendas – Sunni and Shia – and they come together to welcome us. A lot of them are really interested in what America is like. I find some of my most interesting conversations are about how religious Americans are. Some of them are surprised by that.”

Perhaps the biggest impediment to change in the area is the ongoing violence from extremist militias. It has slowed the rebuilding process across the country. But Tribble said he feels safer now than when he arrived.

“I can go to places I couldn’t go before because of fighting and security problems,” Tribble said. “But I’ve been in the vicinity of a handful of incidents of different kinds. Every time I go out in to the city in a military convoy, I think about and prepare for it. Anytime I’m in a large group of people, I think about it.”

The current negotiations between the United States and Iraqi governments about the date for troop withdrawal has not affected his work, Tribble said.

“I think it’s true that societies work to the extent that citizens work for them. What we’re trying to see is Iraqis take control of their own lives and make them work – in an Iraqi way,” he said. “If they needed to, they could and would fly solo now. Would it look like Seattle or Munich? No. But it would look like Baghdad. Can we do more if we stay here longer? Yes, but ultimately it’s up to the Iraqis.”

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